Well, let me say that Ive been looking for an Excursion (again). I was looking years ago when I was in Ohio, settled on an Expedition that turned out to be nothing but problems and turned into a lemon. Offloaded that for a bargain and snagged an ‘18 F150 Supercab.

I pull a 28’ Bumper Pull Travel Trailer, and camp regularly, and now, it will no longer be me and the wife seeing as we a have a little one coming and the wife is due in December!

So, this gave me the itch to start looking for a dedicated tow rig family hauler. Ive seen the new Expeditions, but sheesh, I do not want to spend $50k for new or used. That’s insane. So, why not look for an Excursion again?

The pictures attached are from the listing on FB. About 8 pictures in the listing, all exterior, but I snagged the two screenshots just because, everyone loves pictures.

It looks like a clean rig, with the 04-05 facelift, newer gen tow mirrors, and another thing that piqued my interest was the “hellwig” sticker on the rear window. To me, shows that the current owner took so time to show the rig love.

I know I need to be weary about New England rust on the Hitch, Dog Legs, and Rockers, but is there anything I should look for? Is $7k at 205k miles a solid deal?

Any advice is super appreciated!

 

What power plant? Any work on the transmission?

 

real basic seller description, only stating V10, and to reach out for more information. Id assume bone stock transmission.

 

My three red flags

1. back up lights
2. hellwig sticker
3. price

1. Nothing wrong with the lights themselves but they show the owner like to tinker, there are 2 kinds of DIY people.
A. Ones that have skills and make improvements
B. Ones that get inspired by pintrest but do not have skill and compromise systems by choosing inferior parts and poor workmanship.

so first order of business is determining was the prior owner an A or B ?

2. hellwig sticker and the fact the excursions ride hight has been increased over stock indicate the PO was trying to correct some poor handling and added a rear sway bar. The Excursion didn’t come with a rear bar and when setup correctly doesn’t need one, the biggest downside to the rear sway bar is it make for a terrible ride quality for rear seat passengers, if you value your infants neck you will want to address this with some serious efforts to correct.

3. price, in my opinion it is priced correctly for a mechanically sound, rust FREE unit that is up to date on all maintenance. The question is was it priced in this manner or is the owner one of these guys who heard excursions sell for Big money ( some do because they are special, most do not ) and priced his lower because it has known issues.

personally i would either check or have checked, steering gear, TREs, Unit Bearings, exhaust studs, brake slide pins, pads rotors.

those are the common bigger ticket maintenance items that often get neglected.

then i would confirm exactly how it was lifted. It can be done on the cheap that makes ride and handling worse than stock or it can be done to vastly improve ride and handling, the difference comes down to the details. Post pics and we can help you determine whats what

of course RUST
that is always a no go for me, but 2 additional places to check are
lift back the rubber seal of the windshield at the top and sides, fixing this area is difficult at best and had caused many a beautiful looking Ex to be deemed basically worthless.
the check the hinges of the rear top hatch, it holds grime and leafs ect that cause it yo stay wet snd rust out, Again a difficult area to repair and the values take a huge hit.

rocker and dog leg rust are relatively easy to fix but are a tell tale to bigger issues.

 

That's great it has a Hellwig anti-roll bar, maybe he installed the matching front bar, too.
Ours handles so much better with the upgraded bars.
Even with the heavy duty rear leaf springs on ours, the ride while firm is still very good.
The stock rear leafs are rather soft.
For offroad use, off-angle speed bumps and ditches the heavier anti-roll bars do increase body roll, but for freeway towing, windy conditions, passing semis, emergency lane changes and mountain roads the improvement in handling and control is worth it.

 

Thank you. This is the kind of response a fella needs to know. Seriously, thank you.

 

Body roll is measured in relation to the frame. The rear bar reduces body roll by limiting suspension articulation no matter on or off road.

if you don’t mind your rear seat passengers getting thrashed a rear bar is a easy short cut to improve handling but by no means the best way, especially for rear seat passengers ride comfort.

the rear springs are not “soft” they are 420 lbs/inch. That rate is perfectly suited to towing at maximum GVWR.

when not towing a lower spring rate is preferable.


edit… body roll = angle difference between axles and frame

 

I’m not an offroader by any means, nor is that somethingI have interest in. Unless you consider parking a camper in a field, that’s about it.

I’m mainly looking for a capable family hauler, that is tried and true. Also, without breaking the bank. I plan and intend on paying cash, but slim pickings in New England.

 

on road or off the principles of suspension design and function are the same,
off roaders typically just want more wheel travel than a street vehicle.

I typically do not address the needs of off road suspension on this forum as the Ex is not particularly well suited to it just as it is not suited to being a sports car.

 

The Helwig bar was probably the best thing I ever added to my rig. 4 bolts and it's in or out, no big deal to remove.

 

or just remove 1 link